Honduran President claims drug cartels plotted to assassinate him and U.S. ambassador

On Thursday, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez revealed that law enforcement officials in the United States and Honduras were investigating claims a drug cartel in the country was plotting to kill him and the U.S. ambassador.

According to The Latin Times, the Honduran President made the comments to a local radio station. He indicated that outside sources had exposed the plot by a drug cartel operating in eastern Honduras to assassinate both him and Ambassador James Nealon.

“They reported that there was evidence of plans for an attack against Ambassador Nealon and against (myself) by an Atlantic criminal group,” the president told the radio station. “So we told everyone that they had to do their job, investigate and bring proceedings in the case.”

The president, who assumed his role back in 2014, has made defeating Honduras’ extreme levels of violent crime and decreasing the power of drug traffickers a primary concern of his administration. Although his regime has managed to reduce Honduras’ soaring homicide rate and implemented a stringent policy against cartels, human rights groups have brought forward concerns about his methods.

Although his regime has managed to reduce Honduras’ soaring homicide rate and implemented a stringent policy against cartels, human rights groups have brought forward concerns about his methods.

Honduras has been used by Mexican drug cartels as a major transit hub for trafficking cocaine into the U.S.

It is still unclear as to which, or what role the cartel played in the reported assassination plot, and Hernandez did not provide additional information regarding the investigation due to the sensitivity of the probe.

Hernandez’s admission transpired the day after after Honduran army captain Santos Orellana alleged that U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents had coerced him to testify against the president’s brother over a plot to murder Nealon. Orellana is currently under investigation by the United States for accusations of corruption and links with drug traffickers.

The president’s brother, Juan Antonio Hernandez, stated in a letter to Congress that he was willing to cooperate with any investigation, but firmly rejected the allegations of having links to illegal organizations.

Hernandez has faced numerous difficulties as the Honduran president, including a march by thousands of citizens demanding his resignation.

Opposition groups are also requesting an independent investigation into a corruption scandal, which reportedly involves the Honduran Institute of Social Security — where companies established by Institute officials overcharged fees for services.

Hernandez acknowledged that his 2013 presidential campaign unknowingly received donations that may have been associated with the groups entangled in the scandal.